Chemo really affected a friend of mine who had breast cancer. It's been a few months since she underwent chemo and radiation, but she still has memory problems and now is experiencing physical issues with her muscles, connective tissue and bones as it leached out the calcium from her body. She can still work, but can no longer do heavy physical activity or ride a motorcycle.

LDM90:My wife's friend didn't want her cancer-stricken husband to get chemo because she didn't want him to "put poison in his body".

It all comes down to the probability that the chemo will actually be beneficial. Sometimes all you do is just make your last 6 months on Earth extra miserable. Or maybe the surgeon was able to remove the entire tumor, it hadn't spread, and is completely unnecessary. Or sometimes it completely saves your life or at least buys you an extra 3+ years. It's not a simple decision.

NewWorldDan:LDM90: My wife's friend didn't want her cancer-stricken husband to get chemo because she didn't want him to "put poison in his body".

It all comes down to the probability that the chemo will actually be beneficial. Sometimes all you do is just make your last 6 months on Earth extra miserable. Or maybe the surgeon was able to remove the entire tumor, it hadn't spread, and is completely unnecessary. Or sometimes it completely saves your life or at least buys you an extra 3+ years. It's not a simple decision.

Exactly. Starting an intense chemo regimen when you discover you have stage 4 metastasized lung cancer (as my uncle did) will probably do little good, and may even hasten you to a painful end.

Grapple:LouDobbsAwaaaay: In other news, poison that is designed to kill parts of your body is a poison that kills parts of your body.

This. I'd rather just have cancer and live for awhile than put my body through this shiat.

I had two grandparents with cancer and they denied chemo. My father got diagnosed with prostate cancer. He denied chemo because he figured he had lung cancer anyway. They claimed that every chemo patient looked like "death warmed over" and they didn't want to endure that.In the end, they all still looked like death warmed over.They all died within six months.Good luck with your plan.(Save your family the medical bills and eat a bullet.)

NewWorldDan:LDM90: My wife's friend didn't want her cancer-stricken husband to get chemo because she didn't want him to "put poison in his body".

It all comes down to the probability that the chemo will actually be beneficial. Sometimes all you do is just make your last 6 months on Earth extra miserable. Or maybe the surgeon was able to remove the entire tumor, it hadn't spread, and is completely unnecessary. Or sometimes it completely saves your life or at least buys you an extra 3+ years. It's not a simple decision.

Yup. If there's a reasonable shot at a cure I would put myself through it. If it's just a matter of delaying the inevitable a bit, no way.

I went through CHOP-R (a fairly nasty brew of poisons), but lived to tell about it. And yes, it played havoc with my brain, but pretty sure it was only temporary.

The worst thing I remember is it screwed with my sense of depth and timing. I pretty much had to blindfold myself when I was in a car- always felt like we were going to crash into something. And no, I wasn't driving.

Gunny Walker:Grapple: LouDobbsAwaaaay: In other news, poison that is designed to kill parts of your body is a poison that kills parts of your body.

This. I'd rather just have cancer and live for awhile than put my body through this shiat.

I had two grandparents with cancer and they denied chemo. My father got diagnosed with prostate cancer. He denied chemo because he figured he had lung cancer anyway. They claimed that every chemo patient looked like "death warmed over" and they didn't want to endure that.In the end, they all still looked like death warmed over.They all died within six months.Good luck with your plan.(Save your family the medical bills and eat a bullet.)

I personally know a Vietnam Vet that was diagnosed with cancer. He's foregoing the "helpful" chemo/radiation option and will most likely die as he lived - on his motorcycle enjoying the beauty of Colorado. He'll have plenty of time to make sure all his affairs are in order so he doesn't burden his kids with it. I personally think that would be a much better way to sign off than essentially killing myself so I could live a bit longer (and lose all quality of life during the process). Cancer is a complete farker. I know several people that have either passed on or are actively fighting it. See, the thing is.. cancer just doesn't go away - it keeps farking with you until it wins. No matter what.

StrikitRich:Chemo really affected a friend of mine who had breast cancer. It's been a few months since she underwent chemo and radiation, but she still has memory problems and now is experiencing physical issues with her muscles, connective tissue and bones as it leached out the calcium from her body. She can still work, but can no longer do heavy physical activity or ride a motorcycle.

That's a side effect of the treatment. Children who undergo chemo have to constantly come back for physical and mental assessments to make sure they are developing normally.

In fact, a school district got in trouble because one of their students was a cancer survivor and during one of his assessments discovered that he was falling back mentally not because of any deficiency, but because the kindergarten program was so shiatty.

When I get cancer, I'm not going to make the mistake my dad did -- letting them poison me so I can waste away in a hospital for three months before dying. Instead, I'm just going to tell everyone to fark off, and spend my last few months high on pain meds, drinking it up, and chilling on a beach.

Women seem to be the ones who have a problem with someone making a decision like that. I look forward to ignoring my mom/sister/wife's pleas when that day comes.

When I get cancer, I'm not going to make the mistake my dad did -- letting them poison me so I can waste away in a hospital for three months before dying. Instead, I'm just going to tell everyone to fark off, and spend my last few months high on pain meds, drinking it up, and chilling on a beach.

Women seem to be the ones who have a problem with someone making a decision like that. I look forward to ignoring my mom/sister/wife's pleas when that day comes.

How well the body takes to the treatment depends on many many factors, including but not limited to: progression of the disease, type of disease and treatment options, age, general health, etc etc etc.So instead of ruling out chemo and claiming you are going out in a blaze of glory, step back and evaluate the issues as dispassionately as you can. Pain killers can dampen the pain but you end up drooling into a cup all day because the pain killers prevent you from doing anything else.

/Having experienced the drooling into the cup option I prefer the chemo option.//it's not cancer, but it is chronic and long term. I'll probably get to live with it for the rest of my life.

Having done 7 rounds of chemo, I can attest to this. Fortunately, mine was short-term, but those chemo brain days sucked ass. Imagine that feeling when you walk into a room and forget what you were looking for, but it lasts for days on end.

When I get cancer, I'm not going to make the mistake my dad did -- letting them poison me so I can waste away in a hospital for three months before dying. Instead, I'm just going to tell everyone to fark off, and spend my last few months high on pain meds, drinking it up, and chilling on a beach.

News flash: You wont feel like drinking or chilling on a beach. The pain meds you need will put you in a fog, and you will not even be able to concentrate on even reading a book or watching TV.

So STFU about it doczoidberg -- and anyone out there facing Chemo, please ignore these assinine comments. Talk to your doctor and find a support group. Like I said earlier, chemo often is a life saver.

When I get cancer, I'm not going to make the mistake my dad did -- letting them poison me so I can waste away in a hospital for three months before dying. Instead, I'm just going to tell everyone to fark off, and spend my last few months high on pain meds, drinking it up, and chilling on a beach.

News flash: You wont feel like drinking or chilling on a beach. The pain meds you need will put you in a fog, and you will not even be able to concentrate on even reading a book or watching TV.

So STFU about it doczoidberg -- and anyone out there facing Chemo, please ignore these assinine comments. Talk to your doctor and find a support group. Like I said earlier, chemo often is a life saver.

When I get cancer, I'm not going to make the mistake my dad did -- letting them poison me so I can waste away in a hospital for three months before dying. Instead, I'm just going to tell everyone to fark off, and spend my last few months high on pain meds, drinking it up, and chilling on a beach.

Women seem to be the ones who have a problem with someone making a decision like that. I look forward to ignoring my mom/sister/wife's pleas when that day comes.

You keep thinking that. Dying from cancer without chemo is horrible too. Chemo at least gives you a chance to beat it and live longer in comfort -- if caught early enough -- yeah, if you have only 3 months left, chemo isn't worth it.

As someone who just finished their seventh round of chemo, it's not unbearable. Hard, but nowhere near the point of justifiably throwing in the towel. And that's coming from someone who has no tolerance for pain. Yes, there is the chemo fog, but you're nowhere near being a drooling idiot. Making lists and talking to friends and family helps with the memory issues, even if you are repeating yourself a few times...

Fortunately I had the benefit of taking medical leave along with health insurance that covers everything but small copays. So I'm going to do everything I can to live as long as I can.

/I'll rest when I'm dead//40 is too young to give up and die///neulasta shot was worse than the chemo

I know many people have this fantasy that dying from cancer is a lucid experience to the end -- perhaps from how its portrayed in TV dramas. In reality, the last week or so before death is often spent in a coma.

LDM90:CokeBear: I'm ok with this. If I get cancer, plan to smoke lots of pot anyway, which I would expect will decrease brain activity and all that other stuff.Something tells me you're hoping to get cancer.

If I get cancer, the first thing I'm going to do is go get a medical marijuana card. Then I'll probably kill myself anyway, because fark this shiat. Poor people can't afford to get cancer.

It can, yes. Some of the drugs involved are major toxic shiat, and personal chemistry/response varies tremendously. Fortunately, the processes are getting more refined and the litany of potential side-effects better managed, but the day when we reliably disassemble a wide varietycancers with nanomachines or custom viruses can't get here soon enough.

StrikitRich:Chemo really affected a friend of mine who had breast cancer. It's been a few months since she underwent chemo and radiation, but she still has memory problems and now is experiencing physical issues with her muscles, connective tissue and bones as it leached out the calcium from her body. She can still work, but can no longer do heavy physical activity or ride a motorcycle.

Same thing with a friend of mine, but most of her orthopedic issues have resolved. It did mess up her teeth and she ended up with a lot of dental work having to be done. Sad too, because she waited until she was an adult and had dental coverage to get braces and fix her bite. Not 5 yrs later they are all messed up again from the chemo. I think she prefers being alive though.